City of color.

My Sunday trip from this past weekend was a quick jaunt up to Whitstable, which is yet another nearby seaside town, although a little less tourist oriented than Herne Bay. When I arrived in the morning it was raining, and although I'd brought my umbrella with me, I despaired a little bit about spending the day venturing about in the wet. Then, after not even ten minutes, the sky cleared into that lovely, brilliant blue, and bam! Rainbow! A nice, full one, all the way across the bay. I wish I'd been able to capture the whole thing on camera, because it really was majestic.
After I made my way down the beach, I did a little exploring further inland, including one of Whitstable's famous quirks: its narrow alleys. Whitstable used to have a tradition of smuggling, and these small alleyways were used by smugglers. They pop up every block or so, and I can attest to the fact that they really only can fit one person at a time. But they all have fun names, like "Starboard Light Alley" or "Squeeze Gut Alley." That's my favorite.
I did a little wandering up the high street and stopped in at a few charity shops. I bought a dress and an Alexander McCall Smith book for my friend. I'll happily spread love for Mr. McCall Smith, and it was a great deal.
After my perusing, I made my way up to Whitstable Castle, one of the town's main attractions. It's a grand old building that is now used for conferences and weddings, and on this particular day it was host to a vintage fair. I was stoked. A vintage fair in a castle? Hello, best of all worlds. And even better, there were some delightful bargains, which I happily snatched up. The castle gardens are, dare I say it, even lovelier than the inside of the building, and I found myself a bench and happily ate my lunch and read my book for about an hour before making the trek back into town and finding my bus stop for the ride home.